Hi Rob. Alas Ticketmaster is, for the promoters that use it, a necessary evil. Pearl Jam spent a decade fighting them and lost. Some promoters don't use them, which is great, but from where I'm standing I have to go with their (promoters) best judgement on the situation, I can't work out ticketing for shows myself.

Shows? All of em.

"He's like an Uncle, I like him but I don't want to listen to him all day."

Bruce Springsteen used the 'verified fan' thing, which is part of Ticketmaster, for his upcoming run of Broadway shows (eight weeks of shows with total amount of tickets available less than one gig in a football stadium). You had to register and would be sent a code, with which you *might* be able to purchase two tickets. It sounds like a good idea, but not a single fan that I know managed to get tickets and they are up on StubHub for stupid money.

Re the above - a considerable number of European fans got tickets for Bruce on Broadway when the second lot of dates went onsale, so it seems all the complaints to Ticketmaster did not fall on deaf ears. That's something at least.
I did not try (but received a code). Too expensive.

I tend to refer to them as TicketBastard, but really they're just charging customers for a service with the goal of making a profit, just like any other business. I imagine that they could be providing that service at a much lower markup, but I also can't really blame them for charging what people are willing to pay. I have a couple of local venues that I could probably go to in person and skip the fees, but it's worth the extra cost to me to not have to do that, especially when it's a show that's going to sell out in minutes online.

One of the things I've always liked about the Springsteen ticket sales was that there were no presales or fan clubs or whatever that gave people early access -- just every person for themselves at 10am. I mean, with their 4 devices going simultaneously and their friends and family helping too, haha. The Verified Fan thing may have blocked some professional scalpers, but it also took away the ability for a whole bunch of people to even attempt to get tickets. I'm also pretty sure a decent percentage of those stubhub listings are just regular people trying to turn a profit. And yes, I got some tickets for the second lot of dates

Well done on getting tickets Wendy.
And yes, it's not all bad with Ticketmaster/bastard. I bought tickets for Robert Plant in December and received them in the post this morning. With other ticket providers (See, Gigs-and-Tours) you are always left in suspense until the last minute whether they will arrive at all, and then you (well, me, anyway) end up having to email them to change to box office collection....